Lago Vista taxpayers to match $750,000 sewer grant with $187,500

What the grant is

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the city the grant on Sept. 22, 2026. With the city's match, the grant project totals $937,500. It pays only for planning, permitting, design, and bid-phase work.¹ The EPA pays 80% of each cost the grant covers, and the city pays 20%, staff said.^1,6

The city also plans to pay $354,278 outside the grant for construction administration and observation at the plant. The grant runs from Oct. 1, 2026, to Feb. 1, 2028. The council votes on the engineering contracts the grant pays for.¹ When we wrote this story, the city had not posted minutes for this meeting, so this story is based on the meeting video.⁷

What we reported before

Our Nov. 2 story on the Garver contract reported that the grant would pay up to $488,799.20 of the new plant design work.⁸ That story could not find the grant's total, which this meeting's packet now gives.¹

Our October story on the sewer plant loan reported that Saum announced $750,000 in a federal spending bill for the city's wastewater project.⁹ A Senate committee table lists that money under the EPA.¹⁰ The packet does not say whether the September award is the same money.¹

Before the meeting

The city's first semi-annual progress report, one of the reports the grant requires twice a year, covers April 1 through Sept. 30, 2026. No grant work or spending happened in that time. The grant was awarded near the end of that period, and the project period did not start until Oct. 1.¹

The report was due Oct. 30, and the EPA moved the deadline to Nov. 12. The extra time lets staff match the grant's work plan to the contracts before the council. Victor Manzano, the city's capital improvement plan (CIP) manager, submitted the item. It called for discussion only, not a vote.¹

Staff proposed splitting the federal money between two projects. The plant project would get $488,799.20, and the city would add $122,199.80.¹ That money would pay Garver, LLC to design new filters and a new press that squeezes water out of sewage sludge.⁸

The second project is about effluent, the treated wastewater that leaves the plant. The city now relies on land at Cedar Breaks and other reclaimed-water sites to handle it.⁵ This project would get $261,200.80, and the city would add $65,300.20. Of that, $87,620.80 in grant money and $21,905.20 from the city were a placeholder for a later final design.¹

The rest would pay DCS Engineering, LLC for a master plan. It would study the capacity of the Cedar Breaks system, future irrigation acreage, and the pumping, piping, and storage the system needs. It would also include early engineering for a first phase of work. That order would use $173,580 from the grant and $43,395 from the city.⁵

The Nov. 5 meeting

The council took up the grant at a regular meeting in the City Council Chambers at 5803 Thunderbird. City Secretary Robin Smith certified that the agenda was posted at City Hall by 6 p.m. on Oct. 29.³

The mayor read the three water votes and the grant talk together. "They're all water related," the mayor said.¹¹ Ernesto Rios, the city's director of Public Works, presented them.^12,13

A staff member said the $354,278 outside the grant pays for construction administration and observation, which the grant does not cover. A council member asked whether the city would use its 2024 certificates of obligation, a kind of city debt. Manzano said that was still to be decided. The plant work no longer qualifies for wastewater impact fees, because it no longer expands the plant, Manzano said.⁶

Manzano said the plan was built from the EPA grant agreement and covers design only. Work outside it would not qualify, and "we could potentially lose that 80-20 match," Manzano said.¹⁴

Rios recommended approving both contracts.¹⁵ Mayor Pro Tem Norma Owen asked, "what happens if we don't do that?"^3,15 Rios answered that the city could not move forward with the EPA grant.¹⁵

A council member then asked whether the work plan deadline was still Nov. 12. A staff member said it was first due Oct. 30, and the city had asked for two more weeks.¹⁶

Going outside the grant's design scope would take a formal change that the EPA must approve, the staff member said. All the EPA money must be spent by Feb. 1, 2028. Asked whether the city could lose the money, the staff member said, "I couldn't confirm or deny that we are at risk."¹⁶

Council Member Karen Van Ness asked how long the work would take. A staff member said the EPA wants reports that show the city is meeting the milestones in its work plan. Staff said the work would finish "within that time frame that is required."¹⁷

Council Member Jess Hall asked whether the money was a loan or a grant. Staff said the state water board money is a loan the city must pay back. Staff agreed that the EPA money is a grant.¹⁸

Before the votes, the mayor said staff had warned that without the DCS order "we risk this funding."¹⁹ The mayor asked whether any deadline would put the city "in trouble." A staff member said there were "not necessarily deadlines," but the first progress report was due, and staff hoped to send it with the updated work plan. Waiting without a plan "delays the funding," the staff member said.²⁰

Later the mayor said, "we're stretching a small grant that we received and pulling from different accounts." A staff member said the city's 20% for the DCS plan would come from wastewater impact fees.²¹

The city would "lose out" if the plan did not pass, the staff member said. "I think it's around 80,000 in the grant funding," the staff member said.²¹ The packet lists $87,620.80 in grant money for the placeholder and $173,580 for the DCS order.^1,5

Council Member Amanda Chavarria said, "I don't want to lose this money now."^3,22 The city might have qualified for more grant money with a correct population count, Chavarria said.²²

The votes

The council first approved the state loan application papers. The mayor made the motion, the mayor pro tem seconded, and the mayor announced the vote as unanimous.²³ Our story on the loan vote explains it.

Owen moved to approve the DCS order, and Chavarria seconded.²⁴ The motion failed 3 to 4 in a roll call, the mayor announced.⁴ Our story on the Cedar Breaks plan vote lists how each member voted.

Then Council Member Paul Prince moved to approve the Garver amendment, and Van Ness seconded.^2,3 The mayor called a roll and announced, "It's approved unanimously."² Our story on the Garver vote covers it.

What it means for taxpayers

The engineering program behind the grant totals $1,291,778. The city's part is $541,778, the $187,500 match plus the $354,278 outside the grant.¹

Of that, $476,477.80 is for the plant work the council approved.^1,2 Staff recommend paying it from 2024 certificate of obligation bond money, utility reserves, or both.⁸ The other $65,300.20 is the city's match for the DCS plan and the placeholder, and it has no approved contract.^1,4 With the DCS plan turned down, the $173,580 in grant money meant for it has no approved contract for now either.^4,5

What we could not find

• Minutes of the Nov. 5 meeting, which the city had not posted when we wrote this story.⁷
• The EPA grant agreement, and the revised work plan due to the EPA by Nov. 12.¹
• Whether the Sept. 22 award is the $750,000 in the federal spending bill.¹⁰
• What becomes of the effluent share of the grant now that the DCS plan has failed.¹
• Which share of the grant staff meant by "around 80,000."²¹

What you can do

• Ask the city for the EPA grant agreement, the revised work plan, and the Nov. 12 report. Requests go through the city's records request page.²⁵
• Attend or watch when the council takes this up again. The mayor said the council meets Nov. 19 and again in early December.²⁰
• If you have records on this, you can share them with us.